Alarm-actuating apparatus



INVENT AT GRNE'YS June 22 1926.

W. A. KENNEDY ALARM AGTUATING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 3].","1922 PatentedJune 22, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM It, KENNEDY, 0 PROVIDENCE,

RI'IODE XSLAND, ASSIGNG'R, BY INF SIGNMENTS, T0 GENERAL FIREEXTIHIGUISHER COMPANY, 01? PROV FENCE, RHODE ISLAND, A CORPORATION OFDELAXVARE,

ALARM-ACTUATING APPARATUS.

Application filed October 31, 1922.

This invention relates to improvements in alarm :urluating appa-iratustor sprinkler systems and the like. More especially it relates toimproved means for controlling the actuation of the alarm especially torelim-- inating intcri'nittcnt action thereof, to the end that thesoumling or silence of the alarm signal at any instant may be a morereliable indication as to whether the distribution system is or is notdiscl'iarging. The invention is described herein as it may be applied toa wet pipe sprinkler system wherein is an alarm valve, con'nnonly acheck valve and usually ol? small ditibrential type, which opens whenflow occurs in the system, and which when open or {low in thesystemadinits water to alarm actuating mechanism. The objectionableintermittent action is caused by the temporary opening of the alarmValve, as by surging oi the water in either direction. Direct connectionresults in so many false alarms while the sprinklers a .l remainshuhthatimprovedapparatushas been developed using a slowly acting relayvalve. In this the l'irst flow upon opening of the valve is into achamber, whence a restricted drain open at a. slower rate than thein'tlow, wherein the water mus, accumulate through a period of time, byexcess of in flow over drainage before there is sutlicient accumulationfor the relay *alve to ope r. The theory is thus to delay the soundingof an alarm, until after any mere 'l'luctuation of water pressure willhave ended. This consantly open drain. however, slows the action equallywhen the alarm valve opens be cause o'l discharge from a. sprinklerhead. Furthermore, it has developed that, even with a sprinkler headopen, l ick "ard sur es ol voter may occur in the distributing; nszxullicient to close the alarm valve. .l'l there were then a consequentclosing oi the relay valve. and (i'Q %:E1.il )i1 oi the alarm, there\vi'iuld be a new kind of talse indication, namely, the absence of asignal notwithstanding that the sprinklers were actually discharging.Upon the reopening of the alarm valve, pressure would again be built upin the su 'iplemental system. and the alarm again z'u'tuatcd, but suchan intermittent alarm is objectionable.

It is a purpose of the invention to eliminate this, lirst, bypreliminarily eliminating Serial No. 598,126.

pressure fluctuations in the supply and distribution system; and, secondby rendering others of them harmless. For this latter it is a purpose toprovide so that such valve movements as occur will be automaticallydistinguished from each other, in their el l'ects on the alarm systemaccording as the remains for a short or long time in the open or closedposition to which it moves; a short continuance being ineffective toatiect the alarm, and a long continuance being eii'ective to start or tostop the alarm, as the case may be.

Among the features of the invention for ellecting the said distinctionis the combination with the alarm valve of a of storage or accumulationchambers for utilizing the tlow through the passage opened by that valveso as to control an independent source of power which is adapted tocause actuation of an alarm. A further feature is to provide arestricted drain from each occurs upon a temporar opening of the valveby water hammer or the like, and means for automatically closing thedrain of one chamber upon accumulation 01 water in the chambers to apredetermined amount. Another feature of the invention is to providemeans in one chamber for storing energy, from flow permitted by openingof the alarm valve, so that control apparatus of the independent powersupply may continue actuated even though the flow from the alarm valveis temporz n'ily stopped. Still anotherleature is to provide a relieffor this stored energy so that in case the alarm valve remains closed,as will happen in case of stoppage oi liow through the distributionsystem, the supply of energy will not too long continue the actuationbut will presently permit the apparatus to cut otl' the independentpower and thus to silence the alarm, so that by silence its indicationcorresponds truly to the closed condition at the sprinkler heads.Further escape oi? the stored energy results in the reopening of theclosed drains, thus hastening the dissipation of both the remainingenergy and the accmnulated water, and ellecting an automatic resettingof the alarm system.

The said first or preliminary elimination is attained by providing arestricted by-pass around the alarm valve, through which water may passfreely but only very slowly from the supply side of the alarm valve tothe distribution side, with a check valve which prevents its return.This passage permits any slow increase of supply pres sure, such as mayoccur at certain parts of the day, to be transmitted past the alarmvalve; and its check valve entraps water at higher pressure on thedistribution side. When recession of supply pressure has later occurred,the minor surges therein will usu-,

ally be insuliicient to equal the entrapped pressure, and so will notmove the alarm valve. But when the alarm vaive is in fact raised, eitherby a mere surge of pressure supply or by the liow that follows theopening of a sprinkler, water is supplied to a passage that leads fromits intern'iediate tlltllllbel to a series of storage or accumulationchambers. This passage enters the lirst chamber near its bottom andcontinues from the top thereof to connect with the lower part of asecond chamber.

The upper part of this latter chamber contains air and is closed tightso that water ris ing therein, it flow continues long enough through thepassage, compresses the air above it and thus stores energy, in the formof air under pressure. Each chamber is provided with a restricted drainto atmosphere, that of the first chamber being reiatively large and thatof the second relatively small, both being normally open. The bottom oi?the first chamber has a flexible wall which yields downward whenever thealarm valve has remained open long enough for water, flowing into thepassage faster than it flows out of the drains, to pile up enough tocreate a predetermined pressure on said flexible bottom; and with itsyielding it permits closing of a stop valve in the relatively large{rain from this first chamber. Thereafter more rapid collection of wateroccurs in the second storage chamber with consequent further increase ofair pressure therein, This chamber also has a flexible bottom, whichflexes downward when the pressure reaches a fixed point higher than thatwhich causes the flexing of the diaphragm in the first chamber; and thisdownward movement of the bottom of the second chamber is utilized torelease the source of independent power, which may be an electriccurrent or a sepa rate current of water leading to alarm actuatingapparatus. As here illustrated, the de pression of the flexible bottomunseats a re lay valve which governs a passage for water From the systemsupply and allows the water to flow to apparatus for signaling.

The chambers, pipes and drains are designed o'l such capacity that thenet accumulation of flow through the passage from the alarm valve duringthe time occupied by it more surge, that is, while a rise or pressure inthe supply is being equalized through the distribution system, will notintroduce enough water to close the l'irst drain; but

liow for a longer time, as when the alarm valve opens on account or asprinkler having opened, will close the said first drain, alter whichpressure will build up quickly and open the relay valve. in that case asul'licient supply of water will have l'lowed through the passage tocompress the an above the water in the second storage chamber. Thisestablishes a reserve of energy and pressure, beyond that needed to holdthe relay valve open, so that, it the alarm valve should be temporarilyseated by resurge ol' water bacl; irom the distributing line, the relayvalve will nevertheless continue to be held open 'l'or a time by forceexerted by this surplus, and the alarm thus be continued. But the smalldrain from this chamber remains continuously open, and if the reseating01' the main alarm valve is permanent, due to stoppage o'l sprinklerdischar e, or due to other closing the distributing line discharge, thenthis open drain will presently have released enough water to lower theair pressure which is holding the relay valve open, so that the latterwill seat, and so the power actuating the alarm will be cut oil, thusstopping the alarm and indicating thereby that flow through the mainsystem has actually ceased. The continued discharge through the overopen small draii'i ol the second chamber will eventually causesuliicient reduction of the air pressure to allow the flexible bottom ofthe first chamber to resume its initial position thus lilting the valveattached thereto and opening the large drain, whereupon water willrapidly discharge leaving the passage substantially empty. The alarmactuating system thus automatically resets itself to await furtherchange of conditions in the main system.

The embodiment herein disclosed is but one form at possible applicationsof the invention. It n'iight be employed with any fluid system whereinthe beginning ol flow is utilized to open a valve for alarm or to doother WOIl-l. The relay valve illustrated is symbolic ot any means forcausing a separate power source to be utilized to accomplish the workthat is to be initiated by flow in the main system.

It is intended that the patent shall cover, by suitable expression inthe appended claims, whatever "Features of patentable novelty exist inthe invention disclosed.

In the accon'ipan -Jing drz'iwings:

Figure 'l is an elevation, largely in section. showing apparatusembodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a plan in section on line 2%. of Figure l and l iguro 3 isan elevation of a fragment in section on line ;l--3 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, 10 indicates a Water supply pipe and 12 ariser, representative ot the distributing pipes, of a Wet pipe sprinklersystem. Between the supply pipe 10 and the riser 12 is a valve casing 16housing an alarm valve 18, which is a dittercntial valve Whoseintermediate chamber i s an annular grove 22 in its seat. lVhenever thealarm valve is seated this intermediate chamber is closed and is cut oilfrom the water pipcs,lbeloiv and above it, but is open to atmospherethrough a passage 28. \Vhen the alarm valve is unseated flow may occurthrough the intermediate chamber into this passage leading by pipe 28into a drip chamber 3t) and from there, by connection 32, to a storagechamber 34. lVhen the passage tit-3 is tell trom an intermediate chamber22 the alarm valve is of diii erential type, but the areas at its twofaces are so nearly equal that the distribution side has only a small:ulvantage. Consequently, when the pressures on the alarm valve arenearly equal, surges in the water supply may cause momentary lifting oilthe valve, with resulting tlovv into the passage 28. The inventionlargely eliminates this by providing a bypass trom the supply side tothe distribution wide 1 the alarm valve comprising: a small pipc Qt), anipple with restricted opening 24, and a connection 26. hen the pressureof the supply rises slowly to above the pressure on the top of thevalve, but not far enough above. to overcome the ditierential eil'ect,the by-pass transmits the increase of pressure to the water beyond thealarm valve and thus maintains the di'ti'erential approximatelyconstant, This prevents lilting oi the valve due to further slow rise,or to minor surge, and reduces the frequency of: intermittent flow ofwater into the alarm passage 25%. A check valve 25 in the by-pass pipe20 prevents any flow haclnvard past the alarm valve. and thus maintainsthe pressure above the valve with correspondingly great tuntherprotection against its opening by surge v-ylicuever the supply pressuredrops. However, upon a very sudden or substantial inwcasc oi pressure onthe supply side, the alarm valve will be lifted, as the restrictedopening 24 is only large enough to handle tiou' caused by a small orgradual increase.

A diaphragm 3b constitutes the bottom of the drip chamber 30, and issupported at its center by a compression spring 38. (lnand attached tothe diaphragm is one end of a lever 42 which carries a cap valve 44 forosing a drain 46 leading out of the drip llnunber. This lever pivoted ona fixed support, is so arranged that depression of the diaphragm bottomswings it and its valve 4-4 down so as to cover the mouth of the drain.

lihesiae ot the drain and the strength of the spring Supporting thediaph agm can be so proportioned that all fl ent r ng the drip, chambeduring inter itten or asua openings of the alarm valve, follow deasonably soon by ts c os re, W ll be d charged Without accumulatingenough to depress the flexible bottom. But upon a sus tained opening ofthe a arm valve, as w en escape of water occurs through a open dsprinkler, the inflow to the drip cha ber. being greater than he outflowhrough h drain, will in a short time ti l th s hambe and pass on througha pipe 32 into th bo tom partof the second chamber 34. This chamber isprovided with a drain 5,0, having a small orific 51, constant y pen,which vents air as the Wa er. is sing in t drip chamber, but it is sorestricted that the incoming water rises pas it. and entrapair in theupp r part of the accumula i n chamber 34. This air is thus compressed,and it stores up, pressure and energy, until its pressure, plus theWeight of Water, causes the diaphragm floor 36 of the first chamber toyield downward. This closes the drain 46,"cuts oft all escapethercthrough, causi g the Water to rise more rapidly in the secondchamber 34 and thus more quickly increases the air pressure therein.

The bottom 48 of this second chamber is also a diaphragm. Atta hed to itis the valve stem of a relay valve 54 which controls. a separate passagefor water leading from any source of constantly available pressure, suchas the supply pipe 10. As shown, this separate passage comprises a pipe56,, a chamber 58 to which it leads, containing the relay valve. 54, anda chamber 6.0 on its other side, from which pipe. .62 leads to suit,-able alarm actuating apparatus 64.

The chamber 66 under the diaphragm 48 is provided with an open vent anddrip 68 for Water that may leak past the valve stem when the relay valveis open. This open drain also maintains atmospheric pressure on theunder side of the diaphragm 48. Under the relay valve 54 is a spring 70by which the relay valve will be closed upon the pressure above thediaphragm 48 being reduced. to a predetermined degree. This occurs up onsufficiently long stoppage of flow from the alarm valve. As the opendrain 5,0 steadily removes Water from the storage chamber 34, effectiveair pressure therein steadily diminishes during closure of the alarmvalve. But the rate of drainage from the accumulation chamber 34 is soslow in relation to the size ot that chamber, that the alarm willcontinue to be given even though the alarm valve 18, be again closed, asby resurge, with stoppage of inflow to the accumulation chamber for theshort period duringlivhich such resurge might be eitective. Upon thebeginning ot a fresh surge, or restor-ation of regular flow through themain system, the alarm valve would be reopened. Water thus supplied tothe space above the relay diaphragm 48 would continue the holding of therelay valve open and resume the primary method of alarm operation. Theinvention therefore, provides a secondary and temporary means ofoperation by stored power, which is designed to exhaust itself in ashort time but not until any cessation of regular supply has proved toexceed a predetermined number of seconds, in which case the longercessation indicates that stoppage of flow through the alarm valve is notdue to mere surge.

Accordingly, the alarm is not given unless there is a sulliciently longopening of the alarm valve, such as would only take place upon llow ofwater through one or more sprinklers, an open period long enough to iillthe passage and create pressure in the storage chamber 34. As a slightflow would be handled by the drain 46, the sounding of the signalindicates positive discharge of a sprinkler. Thereafter as long as thisdischarge occurs, the alarm will be maintained, even though resurge mayseat the valve; but actual cessation of discharge, and permanentstoppage of flow to the accumulation chamber stops the alarm.

The invention thus provides for the giving oi? an alarm that is trulyindicative of the condition existing at the sprinkler heads, andeliminates the false sounding of alarms, or the :talse silencing of analarm, due to temporary changes of conditions within the system. Thearrangement of two separate drains in the control passage, each servingits own particular function and each designed according to its ownspecial use, enables the apparatus to be sensitively adjusted for anyconditions. The large drain for leakage or intermittent flow can beclosed at any predetermined setting, leaving the inflow then free topass more rapidly into the pressure storage chamber. At the same timethe drain from this chamber may be made as small as desired, so as notto retard too much the initial filling of the chamber and thus delay thegiving of the alarm. The spring 38 can be designed to hold the drain it;open until the water level reaches a predetermined height in storagechamber 34;, corresponding to a known pressure of the trapped air aboveit. Consequently when the flow has ceased, and the drain 50 haspermitted discharge of the water in chamber 34 to below thepredetermined height, the spring 88 will force the diaphragm 36 upwardthus opening the valve 44 and allowing the water to run oil morequickly. Accordingly the system will rapidly and automatically resetitself upon cessation of discharge in the main system. The addedadvantage, of causing the escape of water from the storage chamber to beas slow as desired,

enables the alarm to be prolonged While the chamber 34 is being emptied,or to make a smaller chamber serve, the escape being so slow, and alsoenables the stored energy to be utilized to carry on the function of thealarm valve when the latter is inopportunely closed.

I claim as my invention:

1. The combination with a pressure storage chamber and a passage theretofrom a liquid pressure supply, of means in said passage tor dischargingsmall flow of liquid therethrough, automatically closable upon largeflow, whereby liquid accumulates in said chamber; an independent sourceoi? energy; control means actuated by said accumulation for causingrelease of said independent source of energy; and means for restrcteddischarge from said chamber, whereby upon cessation of flow in saidpassage said accumulation is slowly discharged and said control meansare permitted to cut ofl said independent energy source.

2. The combination with a distributing system having an alarm valvenormally seated but adapted to be opened by flow through said system, ofa passage thence controlled by said valve; a drip chamber with which itconnects, havin a drain nor mally open for discharge of short flow, andhaving means whereby said drain is closed upon long flow andaccumulation in said drip chamber; an accumulation chamber connectedwith said drip chamber and arranged for collection of excess flowtherefrom to accumulate in said accumulation chamber and compress airtherein: said accumulation chamber having a flexible bottom adapted tobe moved by the stored energy of said compressed air and the weight ofsaid collection; and means operated by movement of said chamber bottomto cause actuation of an alarm.

3. Alarm actuating apparatus for a sprinkler system having an alarmvalve, comprising a passage leading from said valve and including a dripchamber and an accumulation chamber connected in series, said dripchamber having a low capacity drain and having a diaphragm bottomactuated to close said drain by a predetern'iined accumulation in thepassage, caused by a relatively large and long How, thereby causing allsubsequent flow to continue to said accumulation chamber; the saidaccumulation chamber being arranged for the flow therein to compress airtherein and having a flexible bottom responsive to said air pressure andto the Weight of the accumulated flow, adapted upon flexing to effectthe actuation of an alarm; and there being means permitting relativelyslow discharge of said accumulated flow thereby permitting the saidbottom to be refiexed to stop the alarm.

l. A liquid distributing system combined witli'auxiliary power operatedapparatus; control means for connecting and disconnecting its power,arranged to be operated respectively when flow of the liquid within thesaid system occurs and ceases; and supercontrol means adapted to preventthe control means from connecting the supply of power until the said Howwithin the system shall have continued for a pre-arranged time, andthereafter to maintain the said connection of power for a pie-arrangedtime after said flow has ceased; said control means being actuated byincrease and by decrease of an accumulation of liquid from the system;and said super-control means providing a relatively large and quickinflow rate during the period of accumulation, including accumulation ofa surplus, and a constant relatively slow rate of outflow for reducingthe accumulation when inflow has ceased.

5. A liquid distributing system combined with auxiliary power operatedapparatus, control means for connecting and disconnecting its power,arranged to be operated when flow of the liquid occurs within the saidsystem, comprising a chamber adapted to re ceive liquid from the system;an element moved by flow in the main system so as to admit liquid tosaid chamber thereby to cause operation of said control means; andsuper-control means having elements sep arate from each other,respectively adapted to prevent liquid so admitted from causing theoperation of the control means until a prearranged time after thebeginning of a movement of said element, and to maintain the connectionby said control means for a pre-arranged time after the said elementmoved by flow has returned to its former position.

6. A liquid distributing apparatus having a flow-operated valve combinedwith an alarm operating passage arranged to be opened by the opening ofsaid valve; apparatus to which the passage leads, operated byaccumulation of water to start an alarm and by diminution of suchaccumulation to stop the alarm; low capacity drainage constantly openfrom said passage, whereby accumulation occurs when the valve is openedand diminishes when it is closed; and a bypassage around said valve inthe system, with a restriction to such small cross section that flowconsequent upon the opening of a sprinkler or drain of the system opensthe said valve, but flow due to slow changes of pressure passes by thevalve without opening it.

7. A liquid distributing apparatus having a differential valve combinedwith an alarm operating passage from the intermediate chamber thereof;apparatus to which the passage leads, operated by accumulation of waterto start an alarm and by diminution of such accumulation to stop thealarm; a by-pass past said valve, with a restriction to such small crosssection that flow c'onsequent upon the opening of a sprinkler or drainof the system opens said valve, but flow due to slow changes of pressurepasses by the valve without opening it; and a check valve preventingback flow toward the supply through said passage.

Signed at Providence, Rhode Island, this twenty-seventh day of October,1922.

WILLIAM A. KENNEDY.

